Saturday, October 23, 2004

The Infectious Magical Genius of Alpha Blondy

[A Review of the October 20th, 2004 Concert Performance: Alpha Blondy and The Solar System; Live at Club Metropolis Montreal; Quebec]

Written by Onyango Oloo

Seydou Koné was born on New Year’s Day, 1953 in a small village called Dimbokro in West Africa.

When he was in his twenties Seydou Koné flew from an African country considered one of the most francophilic on the continent to go and train as an English teacher in two universities in the New York area. There was a time when Koné's own parents were so convinced that he was losing his mind because of Seydou's love for Rastafarianism that they had him committed to a psychiatric hospital for TWO YEARS. A police raid left Seydou Koné so battered that he almost died. He once helped to negotiate a truce that led to a lull in hostilities in a nation ravaged by civil war. When Seydou Koné tours, he speaks Arabic in Israel, Hebrew in the Arab world and English and French elsewhere. He comes on stage with a Bible and the Koran. Born into a Muslim family, Seydou Koné worships Haile Selassie as Jah.

And he just so happens to be one of Africa’s most lovable and authentic superstars.

Of course, if you call him "Seydou" no one will know who you are talking about.

If you want people to know who you are talking about, call Seydou Koné by the nickname that his grandmother(who reared him) gave him.

What’s that?

Try “First Bandit”.

Who are we talking about?

Well, here he is:

An Alpha Blondy concert is a magical, incredibly and totally indelible, mind blowing experience as millions of his fans around the world can readily testify:

Details about Alpha Blondy’s life can be gleaned here and also over here and on this link as well this one.

The essence of Alpha Blondy’s credo and world outlook, for me, is captured in this excerpt about Dimbokro, the kijiji where he was born:
" ... a small village where all the big politicians went to school. There is a Catholic missionary school that we all attended...and then during vacations they sent me to Koranic school. In Dimbokro we are so mixed. So do not judge somebody by his Muslim name ...he may go to church, he may drink wine...Christian make baby with Muslim...The Imam of the biggest mosque in the Ivory Coast [has a Catholic wife].' (Maroni p. 50). This exposure to religious diversity and tolerance influenced his universal outlook. He told Maroni that : 'People who do not know where I come from do not understand. But me, I feel very confused. When people ask me the difference between Muslim and Christian, or Jew and Muslim, I don't have no answer. The Bible says God, the Koran says God, the Torah says God. God is the common denominator.' (Maroni p.50). It is not only religious but also national identity that is challenged by Blondy's perspective. He has said that 'I don't believe in geography ... whether I am in America, or Paris, or Abidjan...I am living in the big Israel, because creation began in Israel.' (ibid p.73).

Cote D’Ivoire has been wracked by a debilitating civil war. At the time of the coup in 2000, Alpha Blondy SUPPORTED the ouster of the then civilian government. His views have drastically hardened. His brand new, yet to be released song “Sankara” expressed the dour view that coups only breed more coups.

On October 19th and 20th, 2004, Alpha Blondy and the Solar System performed at the Metropolis Club located at St. Laurent and St. Catherine in downtown Montreal. Onyango Oloo was among hundreds of enthused fans who attended the last show.

Local reggae mainstay Kali and Dub was the opening act and they did not disappoint.

But nothing could have prepared me for the next two hours.

Alpha Blondy kicked off the show with a deep spiritual moment, clutching a holy book (was not sure whether it was the Bible or the Koran) as he gave a very somber rendition of his classic "Jerusalem” in a very moving delivery that captured the crowd from the get go.

That unforgettable concert can not be reproduced on the pages of a blog stashed away in one of the most obscures corners of the internet. You simply had to be there at the Metropolis Club in downtown Montreal this last Wednesday to capture the joy, the verve, the vim, the laughter, the high energy, the melancholy and of course those nostalgic roots reggae vibrations that evoke the golden era of reggae music before all the tuneless sexist and homophobic slackness of latter day overproduced dance hall throttled that one love one heart feel good spirit…

Surveying the crowd, I marveled for the umpteenth time about the unsung heroic role of Black musicians as promoters of racial harmony, international cooperation,global unity and inclusiveness. Believe it or not, MOST OF THE PEOPLE at the concert were of Caucasian origin and the people of African descent ran the full gamut from a fiercely patriotic Ivorian contingent next to the stage throwing T shirts emblazoned with the their national flag and a message of peace to the musicians; to the Jamaican Rastafarian who waved a giant Ethiopian flag throughout the duration of the show (on two different occasions, Seydou grabbed it and waved it triumphantly in solidarity) to Kenyans, Sri Lankans, Quebecoise, Algerians, Montreal Jews, Sudanese Arabs, Southern Christian Sudanese, Portuguese Canadians, American students studying at Concordia, Japanese tourists having a good time, Somalis with their unmistakable flag, you name it. There were as many women as men and it terms of age, you could see the salt and paper tomes of graying reggae lovers jostling with bobbing dreads of twentysomething Nyabinghi adherents. And the crowd kept moving, dancing, waving, shouting and cheering.

There is simply NO WAY on earth for a mega group like Guns and Roses or a superstar like Garth Brooks or any of the rock and roll or country and western icons could come even remotely close to matching the racial, multi-cultural, linguistic, age, gender and sexual orientation diversity that African griots like Alpha Blondy, Baaba Maal or Miriam Makeba are GUARANTEED to pack in wherever and whenever they appear in Canada, the United States, Europe, Japan, India, the Caribbean, Latin America and other parts of the world.

At one point, Seydou Kone turned off the music to address us in French about the plight of his tortured Ivory Coast and the rest of Africa. Without going into a lot of details, let us just say that he had a lot of very uncomplimentary things to say about the Eyademas, Mois, Barres and other neo-colonial African despots.

The one thing that stands out for me about Alpha Blondy is his commitment to two ideals: peace and global harmony. That seems to be what drives his music and he practices what he preaches even in his band: his rhythm guitarist is a lanky European who proudly donned a jersey of the Spanish national soccer team; one of his two female back up singers is a continental African while the other one is obviously of mixed heritage which may or may not point to a Caribbean origin; the rest of the band is similarly diverse.

So, why do people love Alpha Blondy?

His enormous generosity of spirit and easy camaradarie with his audience.

You can see this clearly as you observe him interacting with the crowd that this is an artist with hardly any airs, someone who genuinely loves interacting with people- Alpha Blondy kept shaking and clasping hands throughout the show and accepted all the gifts(from T shirts to cold hard cash) except the marijuana joint that a very mellow fanatic tried to slip him right at the beginning of the concert.

The guy is not only a gifted artist but a consummate professional to boot and as one of my fellow radio programmers here in Montreal commented wryly- he does not skimp on the sound system. You could feel the pulsating reverberations of the bass right inside your rib cage and knocking on your liver...

The Alpha Blondy/Solar System stage show is not contrived- not at all, even though it it is obvious that Seydou and his crew work very hard to prepare for a great performance judging by the synchronicity of the band and its leader( only one discordant moment when Alpha Blondy sheepishly and impishly blurted out the confession that he had forgotten some of his own lyrics and redid the song three times before he got it right) no, there is no artifice-in fact apart from being a an intense and passionate singer, Alpha Blondy at times is more theatrical than musical making me wonder at such junctures whether or not Seydou ever tried acting as a career alternative because he seems to have the charisma, athleticism, presence, vocal mastery and rapport with audiences that distinguishes the great performers and entertainers from the ham actors who as they say in Kiswahili, ni fungu peni.

If I were to rate Alpha Blondy and the Solar System, I would put them up,way, way, way high up theerrrre along with such legendary performers that I have seen live like Angelique Kidjo, Zap Mama, Oumou Sangare, Rokia Traore, Femi Kuti, Baaba Maal, Salif Keita, Papa Wemba, Mzwakhe Mbuli, Suzzana Owiyo, Samba Mapangala, Amampondo, Maryam Mursal and Oliver Mtukudzi.

Of course, a big chunk of the world wide army of Alpha Blondy's fans have never seen him and will never see him live in performance.

And yet they love him so.

How so?

The quality of his recordings sets him apart from other wannabe reggae stars who try, perhaps too hard to clone Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Dennis Brown, Black Uhuru and Burning Spear instead of just doing their thing.

It is music you can dance and sing to, even if you do not know the words or understand the tongue.

One of the most rewarding moments as far as appreciating the talent and contribution of Alpha Blondy came within the last few days when I started researching for this very essay you are perusing right now. I rummaged around and came across some of the lyrics of his well known classics.

And so, for the rest of this digital intervention, I will let the voice, the sounds, the beats and rhythms and yes the LYRICS of Alpha Blondy delineate the journey of the boy who was named after his Muslim grandpa and renamed Blondy (a corruption of the French word for “bandit").

Let us start with Seydou’s ROMANTIC SIDE because this artist seems to have the charisma, eloquence, melody, harmony and poetry to completely and easily seduce the negligee and lingerie off many a female with a fluttering heart and racing pulse and heaving bosom by his crooning professions of amour and affection.

Those of us who are from East Africa think that “Fanta” is the name of an orangish pop drink bottled and marketed by the Coca Cola corporation. In actuality, it is also a woman’s name prevalent throughout West Africa.

So.

Give a listen to the song called “Sweet Fanta Diablo” composed by Alpha Blondy many years ago. It is in English, but just in case you want to sing along, here are the lyrics:
SWEET FANTA DIALLO

Sweet sweet Fanta Diallo
ouh! ouh! Fanta Diallo

FANTA walking on the rainbow now!
FANTA shivering in moon light waves
FANTA hogging on the mountain top
FANTA kissing me on the burning rock

Sweet sweet Fanta Diallo
ouh! ouh! Fanta Diallo

One day, one day Fanta flee away
with the sun
one day, one day, Fanta ,melt away
under the sun
one day, Fanta flee away
with the sun
over and over I guess
she melt away under the sun
again and again
I keep on wondering
where she's gone
the last time I saw her,
psychiatric hospital
Now I know that I did you wrong
Yes I love you rainbow
And I love you rainbow ray
please help me rainbow
you got to lead me rainbow

Next give a second, third and fourth listen to the song called “Rendez-vous” and once more you can sing along below:
RENDEZ-VOUS

When the night, all right
and the full moon light shinning so bright
don't go away, please stay
my love for you so strong
we just can't go wrong
tears in your eyes, you can't deny
You've been crying, crying all along the day
tears in your eyes can't lie
Stop crying, crying before it gets too late

Yes, I know that youe first love hurt you so
I wish my love could heal your broken heart
and if you want tomorrow to be a brighter day
Now! Oh Lord love me the way you love no one else
love me the way you love no one else
I beg you love me the way you love no one else

Before he made it big with “Jerusalem” Alpha Blondy had a giant hit in Ivory Coast with a song called “Brigadier Sabari”(poor silly me, I had made up my own title and Kiswahili lyrics for this number). He composed the song to give testimony to a very brutal police raid during which he was beaten within an inch of his life. Click here for “Brigadier Sabari” and once more here are lyrics:
Brigadier Sabari

Somebody, somebody is working out the sound system
(the sound system)
Say Jah Jah rythm
(Jah Jah rythm)
We movin through space and time
Brother Tom fear
Ain't got nothin', he's beatin' down the bass line
Why don't you get on board the Zion Express

Rockin' in, rockin' out
Rockin' in, rockin' out
We're gonna rock you
In the Night, in the day
We bound to rock your soul
We positively movin up - oh
Weavin' Jah time
No matter what you say or do
Jah bound to rock you down

Cocody is an upscale quarter of Abidjan (Capital of I.C.)
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Thanks goes out to Esben I. Jensen for this one
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Probably the most recognized song by Alpha Blondy is his monster hit “Jerusalem” that features Hebrew, Arabic, Dioula, French and English words:

When Seydou is singing about Masada, what is he talking about? Well follow along with your ears and eyes, if not your mouth, throat, nose and tongue:

MASADA

I'm gonna sleep by the dead sea
and rise up with the birds from the hills
and clean up my sins
while the birds sing
I'm gonna walk up to the top
of the rock od sacrifice
cause I know now, that life
ain't no dice
yes I know now, that life is a sacrifice

I'm gonna withness the rising sun from Masada
Withness Jah rising sun from Masada... (Bis)
Sleep by the dead sea
and rise up with the birds from Jah hills
and clean up my sins
while the birds sing
I'm gonna climb to the top
of the rock od sacrifice
'cause I know now
That the Lord had conforted his people
yes the Lord had conforted his people
and the Lord had conforted his people

Elohim YEVARECH ETE MASADA
YEVARECH, ELOHIM ETE MASADA... (Bis)

Withness the rising sun from Masada
Withness JAH rising sun from Masada
Yes from Masada... Song for Masada

In the waning years of the last decade of the 20th Century and tentative years of this new one, all Africa was abuzz and ablaze with the craze that the late Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere called “Coca Cola Democracy.” Here is the song MULTIPARTISME (MEDIOCRATIE) by Alpha Blondy and the Solar System:
Missikara djarati wari!! Wari!!

Some call him Allah
Some call him Adonaï
Some call him Jehovah
JESUS, HIAVE, Buddha, Krishna
But he is one, yes He's ONE
Like a tree with many branches
Many in ONE...
Alleluja God is Great
Alleluja God in ONE
See the sunrise
and see the sunset
no one can explain this mistery
Alleluja God is Great
Alleluja God is ONE
Some call him Allah
Some call him Adonaï
Some call him Jehovah
JESUS, HIAVE, Buddha, Krishna
But he is one, like a tree
with many branches, many in ONE
Alleluja God is Great
Alleluja God in ONE
(DUB)(KORA)

If Seydou Kone was an American voter, would he cast his ballot for the dimwitted frat boy having empty headed dreams in the White House or for the lanky humourless lawyer and Vietnam Vet? Does Seydou approve of the invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. I did not see anything speaking specifically to these questions when I mined the internet for 411 but I did come across this composition called DESERT STORM:
Arrêtez! Ne tirez pas
Arrêtez! J'ai des amis là-bas
Arrêtez! Ne tirez pas
Arrêtez! J'ai des frères là-bas

And there is nothing ambiguous about his attitude to Liberia a neighbouring country where he did his high school education after being expelled from a series of schools in his native Ivory Coast. Here is his song, PEACE IN LIBERIAWe want peace in Liberia
Peace in Monrovia
We want peace in Liberia
Peace in Monrovia
Cause Babylon shall not rise again
Babylon shall not rise again
Babylon shall not stand again
Babylon shall not stand again
'Cause everyday they talking about
the Liberian civil war
and everywhere over JAH land
muddy rivers of blood oh Lord!!
No matter who wins, Liberia is crying
no matter who loses, Liberia still crying
no matter who's right, they've got to stop the fight
no matter matter who's wrong, the devil still stronger...
So we want peace in Liberia
Peace in Monrovia
We want peace in Liberia
peace in Monrovia
Cause Babylon shall not rise again
Babylon shall not rise again
Babylon shall not stand again
Babylon shall not stand again
We calling on Jesus Christ to save I and I
We calling Jesus Christ to save I and I
We calling on Allah to save I and I
Calling Adonaï to save I and I
cry, cry Liberia...